Buying my first canister filter Eheim Classic 250 or Fluval 206

[Crispin]

Hello all!

New to the forum but have been into fish keeping for a few years! I'm looking at buying my first canister filter to replace the internal filter I have in my 125L long community tank and was after some advice from the seasoned pros out there!

I've been been looking at two filters in particular, the Eheim Classic 250 (the pro version with the Substrat pro bio-media included) and the Fluval 206. This is for a fully stocked and established 125L tank with nano fish (Endlers, Lampeyes, small Tetras and dwarf Cory cats). Originally I had made up my mind on the Eheim classic canister, I have exclusively used Eheim products up until this point and trust their reliability however the fish shop has these Fluval 206 canisters on a special offer! Looking at the design of the Fluval I much prefer the tray system for holding the different filtration media, I know that it would be much easier for me to clean. I also liked the inlet and outlet piping arrangement on the Fluval more compared to the Eheim. My dilemma is though, how reliable are these Fluval canisters? The last ever Fluval product I had (an old internal filter) was awful, however I do understand that could have just been a one off .

Both of these canisters will offer far more filtration than I'm ever likely to need considering the fish I enjoy keeping, it just comes down to reliability and ease of cleaning at this point so I'm interested to hear your opinions over which you'd chose and if you have had any good/bad experiences with any of these particular products! One concern I heard was that the seals on the Fluval were prone to leaking, is this a common problem or isolated to a few bad luck cases out there?

Thanks,
Kris

 

[Byron]

Given the tank size and the intended fish, I would not use so large a filter. Especially if live plants (floating plants would be beneficial to the fish too) are included.

I have a 33g (125 liter) that is 3 feet (90cm) long, and I am using a small Eheim Mini filter. This sits in the upper rear corner and is just a foam pad with a small motor. It is remarkable how efficient this is. Alternatively, a simple dual sponge filter connected to an air pump would be fine.

There is a myth in this hobby about filters having to be "more," whether it be in alleged filtration capacity or number. Unless the biological system is way over the balance, this is not helpful, quite the contrary.

Byron.

 

[Crispin]

Given the tank size and the intended fish, I would not use so large a filter. Especially if live plants (floating plants would be beneficial to the fish too) are included.

I have a 33g (125 liter) that is 3 feet (90cm) long, and I am using a small Eheim Mini filter. This sits in the upper rear corner and is just a foam pad with a small motor. It is remarkable how efficient this is. Alternatively, a simple dual sponge filter connected to an air pump would be fine.

There is a myth in this hobby about filters having to be "more," whether it be in alleged filtration capacity or number. Unless the biological system is way over the balance, this is not helpful, quite the contrary.

Byron.

Byron,

The tank has been setup and running for a good number of years now, I currently have an Eheim pickup in there (sounds similar to the filter you're describing!). One of the reasons I was considering the canister was simply ease of cleaning compared to trying to unhook the internal filter. I'm also really paranoid about internal filters becoming detached from the side of the tank and spewing water out like happened once with my previous Fluval filter! I'm probably worrying far too much though and as such I've reconsidered purchasing the canister and have decided to save the money for a bigger tank altogether. I can easily fit a 250 litre in where the current 125 is, I'm sure my fish will appreciate more swimming space!

The tank is planted with both substrate anchored plants and floating plants so filtration isn't exactly a huge priority. Back when I had a couple of bamboo shrimp in there, I used to run a plain pump without a filter so they could feast on the particles - I never saw so much as a hint of ammonia, nitrite or even nitrate on the test kit so I fully agree with your comments about more filtration. I'm never likely to keep anything that grows much bigger than a Zebra Danio anyway as I prefer smaller fish.

Thanks,
Kris.

 

[Byron]

With your new info I have a couple comments. First, on the ease of maintenance...canisters I now find a real chore. The sponge filters in my 6 tanks are very easy to squeeze out under the tap at each water change, compared to the effort of the canisters.

Second, with live plants, the only use for the filter is mechanical filtration, to capture suspended particulate matter in foam/sponge/wool. [Obviously there will be biological filtration, can't be helped, but it is completely unnecessary here.] The second use is water movement, but with plants and with the shoaling forest fish mentioned you don't want a raging current, so again a smaller filter like a simple sponge is ideal on both counts.

Tanks without live plants are a different story.